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Here's the secret:

Every time you top up your Starbucks card or app balance, you're not just paying for coffee.

You're giving Starbucks an interest-free loan.

Right now, the company is holding over $1.6 billion of customer money.
Money that hasn't been spent yet.
Money that technically is still yours.

But in practice, Starbucks uses it however it wants.

They don't keep this money in a vault.

They use it to finance new stores, pay suppliers, or invest in expansion.
No banks.
No interest.
No risk.

It's a brilliant psychological trick.

You put money in before you even drink your coffee.

Then, you forget about that small remaining balance.
That "change" adds up to billions.

Most people never spend the full amount.
That one real left over here, two reais there…
It becomes pure profit for Starbucks.

This is called breakage — and it's net profit margin.

Even when customers spend, Starbucks still wins:

They've already received the money upfront,
they've already used their money for months, completely free of charge.

In 2023, Starbucks had more prepaid cash on hand than some banks.

And no customer earns a single cent in interest.

It's loyalty transformed into liquidity.

Think about it:
No marketing campaign could buy that level of trust.

Millions of people literally hand over money and still thank Starbucks for taking it.

That's not coffee genius.

That's financial engineering, disguised as customer convenience.

Starbucks built a banking empire right under everyone's nose.

Their real business isn't just caffeine—it's cash flow.

They don't just sell coffee.

They borrow money from you to make more money.

So, the next time you top up your Starbucks card, remember this:
You're not just buying a drink.

You're lending money to one of the smartest "banks" in modern business.
And they don't pay you anything for it.


![](https://m.stacker.news/121471)

Most don’t know Starbucks is a bank, sitting on $1.6B and paying zero interest

    *1984. France.

Bernard Arnault wasn't the king of luxury.

He was just an engineer who inherited a construction company.
No connection to fashion.
No glamour.
No empire.

But then the French government announced it wanted to sell a bankrupt textile group: Boussac Saint-Frères.
A business disaster.
A financial hole.
Nothing worthwhile…

Except for a hidden gem: Christian Dior.

Arnault saw what no one else saw.

He promised to save jobs, rebuild factories, protect thousands of workers.

The state approved his purchase.

And then came the coldest move of modern capitalism.

As soon as he took over, Arnault did the opposite of what he promised:

— He sold all the textile units.

— He laid off 9,000 employees.

— He dismantled the entire group.

He used the liquidation money to pay for the acquisition itself.

Only what was worth its weight in gold remained:
Dior
and Le Bon Marché.

The press nicknamed him “Terminator.”

But Arnault wasn't satisfied.

He knew Dior would be his weapon—not his destiny.

At that time, the newly formed LVMH (Louis Vuitton + Moët Hennessy) was in internal turmoil.
Families fighting.
Egos exploding.
Lack of leadership.

Arnault saw weakness.

And weakness is opportunity.

Using Dior as leverage, he began buying LVMH shares—slowly, quietly, and systematically.
One move at a time.
One family against another.
One legal loophole after another.

In 1989, Bernard Arnault took complete control of LVMH.

He fired the heirs.

He took command.

And he initiated the greatest consolidation in the history of luxury.

He created something unprecedented:
The Vertical Luxury Conglomerate.

He didn't sell handbags.

He sold status.

He didn't sell watches.

He sold cultural authority.

He didn't sell drinks.

He sold exclusivity.

Today, LVMH is worth hundreds of billions of dollars and controls more than 70 brands—from Dior to Tiffany, from Dom Pérignon to Louis Vuitton.

What did Arnault understand before everyone else?

You don't need to create a legendary brand.

You need to buy it, protect it, and amplify it.

The legacy of others became his empire.

And the conflict of others became his strategic advantage.

![](https://m.stacker.news/121112)

The silent coup that created the LVMH empire.

2008. Crisis.

Wall Street in panic.
Banks collapsing.
Famous managers losing billions.
The entire market… red.

But a Brazilian woman did the impossible.

Leda Braga.

Mechanical engineer. PhD from Imperial College.
Zero glamour. Zero “trader feeling”.
Just math, discipline, and statistical models.

While giants sank, her fund — BlueTrend — rose +43% that year.

How?
Because Leda doesn't follow emotions.
She follows equations.

While traditional managers yelled on the phone…
Her algorithms simply kept executing.
No panic.
No ego.
No improvisation.

That year changed everything.

The media called her the “Queen of Quants”.
Investors rushed in.
Billions came in.

And in 2015, she made the move few would dare:
She left the company where she was a star.

She founded her own asset management firm: Systematica Investments.

She took the entire fund with her.

Today?
Systematica manages billions.
Leda is one of the most respected asset managers on the planet.

And she continues with the same philosophy:
Data over opinion.
Process over instinct.
Discipline over emotion.

The lesson?
The world rewards those who think clearly when everyone else acts in chaos.

It's not about being a genius.
It's about having a method.
Having the courage to trust it.

And above all: eliminating ego from the equation.

Because in business—just like in finance—
winners aren't the ones who feel strongest.
Winners are the ones who decide best.

![](https://m.stacker.news/120501)

From Mechanical Engineering to the Top of the Markets

The unknown Brazilian woman who dethroned Taylor Swift and became the world's youngest self-made billionaire! 🇧🇷

Luana Lopes Lara - 29 years old - broke the global record!

Born in Brazil and a former Bolshoi ballerina, she surpassed celebrities like Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner on the list of self-made billionaires.

Her company, Kalshi, reached a value of US$11 billion this week.

The story is surreal!

![](https://m.stacker.news/120277)



Kalshi, founded by the Brazilian Luana Pinheiro and Tarek Mansour, raised US$1 billion in a new funding round led by Paradigm.

Its valuation multiplied by 5x in just 6 months.

With approximately 12% of the company, Luana's net worth jumped to US$1.3 billion.



Origin in Brazil: The Double Life

The story begins in Santa Catarina.

Luana had an insane routine:

• Morning: Academic classes (won gold in the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad).

• Afternoon/Evening: Brutal training at the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil



From Austria to MIT: The Great Turning Point

After high school, she went to Austria to work as a professional ballerina at the Salzburg theater ("Swan Lake").

But the dream of being "the next Steve Jobs" prevailed.

After 9 months in Europe, she hung up her ballet shoes, moved to the USA, and was accepted to MIT to study Computer Science.



The Thesis: Negotiating the Future

At MIT, he met co-founder Tarek Mansour.

The idea for Kalshi was born during walks through New York City, when they were interning in the financial market.

The thesis: "Why invest in stocks affected by elections, if we can directly negotiate the election outcome?"




Kalshi vs. Polymarket: What's the difference?

Think of Kalshi as an "Institutional Polymarket".

Both allow trading in future events (like elections).

The difference?

• Polymarket: Operates in crypto/blockchain (grey area).

• Kalshi: Chose the hard path: being 100% regulated and integrated into the American banking system.




She sued the US government (and won)

The Brazilian company chose the harder path: regulation.

Kalshi sued the CFTC (the US derivatives regulator) to legalize betting on elections.

The market thought it was crazy to challenge the state.

She won and became the first legal platform of its kind in 100 years.




Volume Explosion

The legal victory changed the game:

• Trading volume jumped 8x since July.

• In November, it moved US$ 5.8 billion.

• It is already integrated with brokers like Robinhood.

Investors say that the resilience of the ballet ("hearing no and continuing") was the key to overcoming the bureaucracy.

Luana Lopes Lara is the youngest self-made billionaire, surpassing Taylor Swift!

Luis von Ahn: the genius who transformed small clicks into the greatest investment in modern education.


Before Duolingo, there was a problem:
Bots were breaking the internet.
A graduate student transformed this pain point into his first billion-dollar idea.
Luis von Ahn helped invent CAPTCHA at Carnegie Mellon.
Those garbled little words filtered bots from humans, on a planetary scale.
Then came reCAPTCHA:
Same task, new purpose—decoding ancient books with human touches.
In 2009, Google acquired the technology.
Luis learned the lesson:
Small actions, repeated millions of times, change the world.
He grew up in Guatemala, seeing gifted children out of school.
The mission became crystallized: to make high-quality education free for everyone.

2011. Duolingo is born in Pittsburgh.
A learning app disguised as a game.
Free.
Fun.
Scientifically rigorous.
The growth engine?
Behavioral design with ethics. Streaks, XP, rankings, friendly rivalry.
Relentless A/B testing: every button, sound, and screen is measured.
If a variant improves retention by 0.2%, it's released.
The first revenue models failed.
Duolingo adjusted:
Ads for free users
Subscriptions for advanced users
English proficiency test.
AI became the teacher's assistant.
Personalized paths, instant feedback, intelligent review.
The "explain my answer" is a tutor in your pocket.
The brand became a fortress.
The little green owl turned notifications into memes.
130 million people learning languages ​​on their phones.
Behind it: a data flywheel that gets sharper with each exercise.
More learners → better models → better lessons → more learners.
What looks like a game is a system of clear feedback, quick rewards, visible progress.

Education designed to generate daily momentum.
From "prove you're human" to "unlock your future."
An $8 billion company, driven by people who couldn't afford school.
Now teaching the next generation to overcome that fate.

![](https://m.stacker.news/120063)

Luis von Ahn: genius who turned tiny clicks into modern education's biggest bet.

     2004. Los Angeles.

Shaquille O’Neal was an absolute NBA star.

But off the court, he was looking for something that would last longer than his career.

One day, in the lobby of the Four Seasons, Shaq overheard two young men talking about a new type of search engine.

They were talking about “organizing all the information in the world.”

The young men?
Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Shaq listened. He liked it.

And he asked: “Can I invest?”

They agreed.

Shaq put money into the project—discreetly, without fully understanding the magnitude of it.

Life went on. Games. Titles. Sponsorships.

And he simply… forgot.

Until, years later, watching TV in the morning, he saw the headline:

“GOOGLE HOLDS IPO TODAY.”

Shaq froze.

He looked at the screen.

And thought:

“Wait… I think I put money into this.”

He called his accountant.

Minutes later, he received confirmation:
Yes. He had invested in Google.
Yes. It was now worth a fortune.
Shaq burst out laughing.
And he learned one of the greatest lessons of his life:
> “Work so that your money works for you.”
Today, Shaq invests in Apple, Lyft, Ring, Vitaminwater, Five Guys, Papa John’s, and dozens of other companies.
He became more than an athlete.
He became a case study in the silent building of wealth.
The best move in the game, sometimes, isn't where you spend the most time.
Shaq taught that:
When you expose yourself to the right opportunities, just one is enough to change everything.
When you learn to invest, it doesn't matter if you forget—money doesn't forget to work.
When you think like an owner, not like a celebrity, you build wealth—not just fame.
In the end, vision is worth more than strength.

![](https://m.stacker.news/119917)

How Shaq invested in Google… and only remembered years later.

Before becoming a billionaire, Marc Lore was broke, living in his childhood bedroom with his wife and children, drowning in debt.
Until he decided to sell diapers online.
Everyone laughed. "Who would buy diapers online?"
But Lore saw something unique: time was the new currency.
In 2005, he launched Diapers.com from a small office in New Jersey.
No investors.
No technology experience.
He himself packed boxes in the middle of the night.
The model didn't make sense on paper, but Lore knew that by making life easier for parents, they would come back.
And they did—in the millions.
Diapers.com became Amazon's biggest competitor in baby products.
Jeff Bezos started a brutal price war.
He was willing to lose millions to destroy him.

  2010. Lore made the hardest decision:
He sold to Amazon for $545 million.
Most would have retired.
But not Marc.
He studied Amazon from the inside and had a new idea.
In 2014, he launched Jet.com.
An e-commerce based on smart pricing and efficiency.
In less than two years, it became the fastest-growing competitor.
In 2016, Walmart bought it for US$3.3 billion.
Two billion-dollar exits in less than a decade.
But the story doesn't end there.
In 2021, he announced something unexpected:
Telosa — a city of the future designed for justice, sustainability, and opportunity.
Cost: US$400 billion.
Goal: 5 million residents.
Timeline: 40 years.
For many, impossible.
For Marc Lore — the guy who sold diapers online while in debt — "impossible" is just the starting point.
Because some people build companies.
Others build futures.
Marc showed what a single idea can become.

![](https://m.stacker.news/119792)

From Debtor to Billionaire: The Incredible Turnaround of Marc Lore

I talk about the market and tell real stories about companies and entrepreneurs.